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What Do You Think Of Top Site List Cheaters?

I've noticed with this new IP tool that we have (Thank you sooo much for this little God send Dave! :mrgreen: ), that it's not only easy to ban those who leave bad comments for the sites on my list; but I can also see who's cheating to get higher numbers. I'm curious to know how you all deal with people like this, if at all? I personally can't stand it, co's I know that there are some really great boards on my list that don't stand a chance against these people who cheat to pad votes.

I've got one member in particular who seems to be on a dial up connection, and votes a few times a day as well as leaves comments every 2 - 3 days for her own site. The reason I caught this, is because I was testing my comments and ratings, and I accidentally forgot to enter a rating for the site I was testing. I deleted the "comment", and went back to re-rate the site. I've got my list set to only accept new comments from the same IP every 168 hours (for the time being until I can figure out how to deal with cheaters). I was unable to get around this, because I am on a highspeed cable connection. However, I looked at this persons comments and IP address' and this is when I noticed that she is voting from diff IPs several times a day.

I'm wondering, how would you all go about making your list rank fairly for your honest members? Would you ban some of the cheaters multiple IP's? Or would you send them an email first stating that their site may be removed from the list if they continue to cheat?

I'd send them an email, and make it clear in the rules for your top list (when people sign up) that this is not allowed on your list. Some people actually encourage members to click on their own sites (I have no idea why) so if you just delete them without warning, they might feel like they are getting a mixed message.

Right I was actually just about to go do that (revise the rules to include a no cheating policy).

I don't mind if people want to vote for their own sites... hey, they're proud of what they've got and they should be. It's just these people who are on dial up or use cloakers, or whatever it is that they choose to use, that get under my skin in a bad sort of way. I don't have time to sit and babysit my list, but I want everyone to have a fair shot in the rankings (or as fair as possible). 8)

Edit: Ya know... I was sitting here trying to think of the best terms to put in this new policy, along with consequences for cheating the list. As much as I hate to say it, there's really no way to do this without killing a list is there? I mean, the member I'm having a problem with happens to be the owner of the site in question. But, site owners have no control over what others do or how they vote. It'd be wrong to "punish" someone for something that another person is doing... I guess I'll just have to let it slide, and hope they get bored with cheating. *dunno* It really sucks though, because it's people like that who give all top site lists a bad rep.

When you are logged in as a manager and you are viewing your member list, click "comments" beside one of the sites. Each comment shows the IP address. Of course this is only useful if you have comments enabled.